Friday Night Fights: El Pasoan Abie Han stopped in 8th round

Glen Tapia unleashed a fierce first round and left El Paso's Abie Han playing catchup -- a game he could not win.

Tapia scored an eighth-round technical knockout over Han, improving his undefeated record to 19-0 by scoring his 11th knockout ... a stoppage that earned him the North American Boxing Organization junior middleweight championship. Han suffered his first defeat, dropping to 19-1 when referee Jay Nady stepped in on advice of the ring doctor and stopped the fight after the eighth round -- with Han cut above the hairline because of a head butt and another cut in the corner of his left eye because of straight right hands from Tapia.

"I didn't want them to stop the fight," Han said. "I was OK and I wanted to keep fighting. I didn't want the fight to be stopped and I told the referee not to stop the fight."

Tapia, from Pasaaic, N.J., landed several right hands in the first round and landed 41 punches to just seven for Han. That obviously took a lot out of the El Paso fighter.

However, Han fought back. He came right back and won the second round. The two clashed heads in the fourth round, leaving a cut just above the hairline on the left side of Han's head. He bled steadily throughout the remainder of the fight, and that, too, probably sapped his energy.

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Han hurt Tapia with a left hook to the body in the closing seconds of the fifth round, doubling over the New Jersey fighter. The sixth round was quiet but close and, after six rounds, the judges had Tapia leading 58-56.

"He's a good fighter and he's got good body shots," Tapia said. "Good hooks. He caught me, but I'll never give up."

Tapia forced Han to take a standing eight count in the seventh round, landing a right hand to Han's temple when the El Paso fighter was off balance. Han grabbed the ropes and stayed up, but Nady gave him the standing eight count, forcing a 10-8 round. Tapia then opened up the cut in the corner of Han's left eye with straight right hands in the eighth and final round.

"Abie wanted to keep going, but that's just the warrior in him," said Han's longtime trainer Louie Burke. "It was a good stoppage. I felt like the first round was the difference in the fight. Tapia scored a lot and it took more out of Abie than I realized. Abie came back, but he spent the rest of his energy coming back. Abie had him hurt more than once and he really had him in trouble late in the fifth round with that body shot.

"But it took too much out of him," Burke said. "I didn't realize how tired Abie was until after the sixth round when I shoved him into the corner and he stumbled. He's really disappointed right now and he's gone to get stitches. In the end, he was just too tired and it was a good call by the referee. If he hadn't stopped it, I would have."

The bout, nationally televised by ESPN2 on its Friday Night Fights broadcast, was action-filled and very entertaining. There was an ebb and flow to the action, with Han battling back after each Tapia assault. But, in the end, Tapia's punches were just a bit heavier and, in the end, that first round was too much for the 28-year-old Han to overcome.

This was a significant victory for the 23-year-old Tapia, earning him the minor NABO belt and, more importantly, pushing him another step closer to getting that much coveted world title fight.

Bill Knight may be reached at bknight@elpasotimes.com; 546-6171. Follow him on Twitter @BillKnightept

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